Outline of libertarianism
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to libertarianism. Summary Libertarianism is generally considered to be the political philosophy, or group of philosophies, which emphasizes freedom, individual liberty, and voluntary association. It is often summarized along the lines that people have the right to live their lives as they choose so long as they do not initiate force or fraud against others, an idea known as the Non-Aggression Principle. However there is no general consensus among scholars on the precise definition of libertarianism, nor on how one should use the term as a historical category, since both practice and perception have gradually evolved over time. Once generally considered a left-wing philosophy, libertarianism as it has become better known is now widely seen as an independent philosophy that is neither left nor right. Libertarians generally advocate a society with little or no government power. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines libertarianism as the moral view that agents initially fully own themselves and have certain moral powers to acquire property rights in external things. Libertarian historian George Woodcock defines libertarianism as the philosophy that fundamentally doubts authority and advocates transforming society by reform or revolution.Woodcock, George. Anarchism: a history of libertarian ideas and movements. Petersborough, Ontario: Broadview press. pp. 11–31 especially 18. ISBN 1-55111-629-4. Libertarian philosopher Roderick Long defines libertarianism as "any political position that advocates a radical redistribution of power from the coercive state to voluntary associations of free individuals", whether "voluntary association" takes the form of the free market or of communal co-operatives. According to the U.S. Libertarian Party, libertarianism is the advocacy of a government that is funded voluntarily and limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.Watts, Duncan (2002). Understanding American government and politics: a guide for A2 politics students. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. p. 246. Noam Chomsky has asserted that in most countries the terms "libertarian" and "libertarianism" are synonymous with left anarchism. * *Colin Ward (2004), [http://books.google.com/books?id=kksrWshoIkYC Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction], Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 62. "For a century, anarchists have used the word 'libertarian' as a synonym for 'anarchist', both as a noun and an adjective. The celebrated anarchist journal Le Libertaire was founded in 1896. However, much more recently the word has been appropriated by various American free-market philosophers..." *Fernandez, Frank (2001), [http://books.google.com/books?id=jKdztbIaHegC Cuban Anarchism. The History of a Movement, Charles Bufe translator, Tucson, Arizona: See Sharp Press, p. 9.] "Thus, in the United States, the once exceedingly useful term "libertarian" has been hijacked by egotists who are in fact enemies of liberty in the full sense of the word.", and that it is only in the United States that the term libertarian is commonly associated with those who have free market positions on economic issues and liberal positions on social issues, going by the common meanings of "conservative" and "liberal" in the United States. Many countries, however, now have Libertarian political parties which stand for free choice in matters of economics as well as personal autonomy. Nature of libertarianism : Main article: Libertarianism Supports * Constitutionalism – a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law. * Economic freedom – the freedom to produce, trade and consume any goods and services acquired without the use of force, fraud or theft. * Individual responsibility – the idea that a person has moral obligations in some situations. * Self-management – methods, skills, and strategies by which individuals can effectively direct their own activities toward the achievement of objectives, and includes goal setting, decision making, focusing, planning, scheduling, task tracking, self-evaluation, self-intervention, self-development, etc. * Self-ownership – the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to be the exclusive controller of his own body and life. * Self-sufficiency – the state of not requiring any aid, support, or interaction, for survival. In many other contexts, it is defined as becoming economically independent of state subsidies. * Voluntary association – a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body (or organization) to accomplish a purpose. Rejects * Authoritarianism – a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. * Coercion – the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. * Imperialism – defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." Debates * Abortion * Anarchism vs. Minarchism/Libertarian municipalism * Free market / Laissez-faire vs. Socialism/Communism Branches of libertarianism Schools of libertarian thought Libertarianism has many overlapping schools of thought, all focused on smaller government and greater individual responsibility. As interpretations of the guiding Non-Aggression Principle vary, some libertarian schools of thought promote the total abolition of government, while others promote a smaller government which does not initiate force. Some seek private ownership of all property and natural resources, others promote communal ownership of all natural resources and varying degrees of private property. * Agorism – * Anarcho-capitalism – * Austrian School – * Autarchism – * Christian libertarianism – * Civil societarianism – * Classical liberalism – * Consequentialist libertarianism – * Crypto-anarchism – * Deontological libertarianism – * Free-market anarchism – * Geolibertarianism – * Green libertarianism – * Individualist anarchism – * Individualist feminism – * Left-libertarianism – * Liberism – * Libertarian Christianity – * Libertarian conservatism – * Libertarian socialism – * Market liberalism – * Libertarian municipalism – * Market socialism – * Minarchism – * Mutualism – * Paleoliberalism – * Paleolibertarianism – * Panarchism – * Philosophical anarchism – * Propertarianism – * Right-anarchism – * Right-libertarianism – * Small-l libertarianism – * Voluntaryism – Origins of libertarianism * Age of Enlightenment – * Anarchism – * Classical Liberalism – Libertarian theory and politics * Anarcho-capitalism and minarchism * Criticism of libertarianism * Debates within libertarianism * Libertarian perspectives on intellectual property * Libertarianism in the United States * Libertarian perspectives on LGBT rights * List of libertarian political parties * Libertarian theories of law * Libertarianism and Objectivism Libertarian ideals These are concepts which, although not necessarily exclusive to libertarianism, are significant in historical and modern libertarian circles. * Civil liberties – * Constitutionalism – * Counter-economics – * Dispute resolution organization – * Economic freedom – * Egalitarianism – * Free market – * Free society – * Free trade – * Free will – * Freedom of association – * Freedom of contract – * Homestead principle – * Individualism – * Laissez-faire – * Liberty – * Limited government – * Methodological individualism – * Natural rights – * Night watchman state – * Non-aggression – * Non-interventionism – * Non-politics – * Non-voting – * Participatory economics – * Polycentric law – * Property – * Private defense agency – * Self-governance – * Self-management – * Self-ownership – * Spontaneous order – * Stateless society – * Subjective theory of value – * Tax resistance – * Title-transfer theory of contract – * Worker's self management – * Voluntary association – * Voluntary society – Influential libertarian philosophers * Émile Armand – one of the most influential individualist anarchists of the early 20th century * Mikhail Bakunin – one of the main theorists of collectivist anarchism and a major influence on the development of Left-libertarianism * Frédéric Bastiat – one of the leading economists of the 19th century and creator of the concept of opportunity cost * Murray Bookchin – the founder of libertarian municipalism and a leading theorist of the social ecology movement * Milton Friedman – Nobel Prize-winning monetarist economist, notable for his advocacy of economic deregulation and privitization * William Godwin – the first modern proponent of anarchism, whose political views are outlined in his book Political Justice * Friedrich Hayek – Nobel Prize-winning Austrian School economist, notable for his political work The Road to Serfdom * Hans-Hermann Hoppe – developed extensive work on (argumentation ethics) * Robert Nozick – philosopher and author of Anarchy, State, and Utopia * Pierre-Joseph Proudhon – the first self-described anarchist and founder of mutualism * Ayn Rand – the creator of the philosophy of Objectivism * Murray Rothbard – the founder of anarcho-capitalism and a leading Austrian school economist * Max Stirner – founder of egoist anarchism * Henry David Thoreau – one of the leading philosophers of American Transcendentalism and anarcho-pacifism * Benjamin Tucker – a leading theorist of individualist anarchism in the 19th century * Josiah Warren – the first known American anarchist and author of the first anarchist periodical The Peaceful Revolutionist See also * List of libertarian organizations * Liberalism * Anti-state Anti-war * Anarcho-syndicalism * Civil libertarianism * Free-market environmentalism * Fusionism * Libertarian Democrat * Libertarian Republican * Libertarian transhumanism * Small government ;Categories * Category:Libertarianism by country * Category:Libertarians by nationality * Category:Libertarianism by form References External links * * The Humble Libertarian is a libertarian resource and index of libertarian websites. * Foundation for Economic Education is one of the oldest libertarian organizations in the United States. * Libertarianism.com a non-profit site for Libertarianism. fa:طرح کلی لیبرترینیسم ta:சுதந்திரவாத தலைப்புகள் பட்டியல் Libertarianism Category:Libertarianism